, catherine, hello. the u.s. economy is losing steam, according to the federal reserve. citing widespread signs of a slow-down. the central bank released its latest survey of business activity on wednesday. the so-called beige book says the overall economy grew at a modest pace. but five out of the 12 federal reserve districts showed mixed conditions, or slowing. among them are new york on the east coast, chicago in the midwest, and atlanta in the south. it also said housing and commercial real estate markets were sluggish and manufacturing grew at a slower pace. the latest survey is a downgrade from the previous report in july. that report also said the pace of economic activity had slowed in some districts. >>> barack obama has announced an additional $180 billion in economic stimulus measures, including massive tax breaks in corporate investment. the announcement comes ahead of u.s. congressional elections in november. >> the truth is, progress has been painfully slow. millions of americans remain unemployed. >> in a speech in ohio on wednesday, the u.s. president proposed a special on

>>> this is "newsline." welcome. glad you could join us on this edition. it's friday september 3rd, 11:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine tokobayashi. we first go to ines matsuyama, who has the latest in business news. ines? >> thanks, catherine. hello. >>> in japan's manufacturing sector capital spending fell over 10% from april through june compared with a year ago. the finance ministry surveyed more than 23,000 firms with capital of at least $120,000. the survey shows that investment on plant and equipment cross all industries except for finance and insurance fell by 1.7%. looking in detail, the manufacturing sector plunged 10.5%, while non-manufacturers saw a rise of 3.4%. looking at earnings, the survey shows that sales and profit in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors rose. the drop in capital spending for makers stands as a cautious stance at business prospects. >>> tokyo stocks extended their gains friday morning following a rise in new york. the nikkei ended the morning session at 9,097 points, up 0.4%, or 35 ticks almost. investors took their cue from a slightly

Excerpts 0 to 1 of about 2 results.